DISNEY/PIXAR "UP!" house in Utah

Last Saturday, Aug. 6th, I went out to do some mobile journalism and made a video walk-through tour of the UP! house replica in Herriman, UT.

The story link got retweeted by Disney/Pixar and The Washington Post Blog, Gizmodo and The Disney Blog embedded my video with their stories.

Here is the mobile story I did:

Salt Lake valley firefighters swift water training

With six drownings on Utah rivers in the past two weeks, swift water training is more crucial than ever. Check out my cool video package of rescue training on the strong currents at Murray Park on Little Cottonwood Creek.

As a mobile journalist, here is my print story 
for the Salt Lake Tribune and also a video I shot and edited in the same morning seen above.

I also talk to and get reaction from Murray City residents about water safety and why they take their kids to swimming lessons.

Caught on video: As the family was walking away from the interview, the littlest girl held back and watched the roaring creek in awe. Her mom turned around to see her and took the opportunity to teach her why she needs to stay away from fast water.

Utah SmartPhone Shots

One day I was thinking, "Hey, why do only photos taken with fancy DSLR cameras have a group to share their artistic talent?"

So I started this Flickr group, where you share and view photos taken only with smartphone cameras.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/utahsmartphoneshots/


Have you ever taken a photo on your phone or iPod Touch and thought it looked pretty cool for the tool you used and then a real photographer thought it looked like crap? Well maybe it truly did look like crap, but it is still fun to share with others without being intimidated by posting a picture on a blog of pictures done by "professionals."


Now there is a place to share your photos without worrying about someone who has a DSLR laughing at your cheap equipment and wannabe photo skills.

Shooting photos with a smartphone require a different kind of talent and an artistic eye that cannot be captured the same with a Digital SLR camera.

There is no monetary benefit to the group. It is just a fun place to share your artistic talent and see others.

Time Lapse Video of Salt Lake City storm

I took this time lapse with my Droid Incredible after I heard a thunderstorm was coming toward the Salt Lake valley on Sunday.

Mobile Journalism: Investigating towing in Sandy City

With a small news tip from a concerned citizen, I discovered this gem of a story about how one towing company has made more than 2,600 tows in a single vacant lot in 2 1/2 years. On average the tow company gathered at least a $725,000 in fine money from car owners.

Read the investigative story here. 

I am trying to add multi-media to more of my stories now to bring some new innovation to the Salt Lake Tribune, so I have a video I also made to go along with the story see my video here.

Car Seat Safety

Think you know everything about car seat safety?

Read how long car seats work before they expire here.
If you want to see my mobile journalism clip along with the story, watch this. You might learn a few new things.

Citizens work to repeal HB477

THE DAY MY 20-YEAR-OLD GRAMA DIED

March 4, 2011 went down as a day of infamy in Utah at the Capitol with the passing of HB 477. It became known as the day our GRAMA died. It became the day public records and transparency in a state with one of the best public records laws in the United States is now slated (pending the signature of Governor Herbert) to become one of the worst in the nation and even rival limited freedom of information laws in Mexico.
These are the folks that passed it. Keep them in mind next time you vote. Are they truly representing you and open transparency in government?
In the House:
In the Senate:
So who accesses these records and why is this such a big deal?
First, listen to regular citizens who commented during a rules committee hearing on Friday about it.
I did a live video stream of the proceedings from my phone.
According to a story in the Salt Lake Tribune, the majority of Freedom of Information requests made nationally were done by commercial businesses and private citizens. The news media comes in at only 6 percent, according to a 2006 report from the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government.
Who does this bill effect? The people. However it doesn't reflect the what the people want. A Dan Jones poll indicated more than 90 percent of Utahns disagreed with the passing of the bill. So why was it passed?
"It is a bill created by the legislature, for the legislature, and against the people," to quote my mother who said it so aptly.

HB477 bill sponsor Rep. John Dougall (photo above courtesy of ABC4.com) 

See the interviews of reporters asking him why the rush in the bill. Does he have something to hide?
FOX13 interview
ABC4 interview
Legislators along with Dougall gutted a law made in 1992, to allow the public rights and access to public records. Basically anything created by the government is a public record, unless deemed to be private.
An amendment to the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA)
Legislators voted in the House and the Senate to conceal many public records including text messages, IM, voicemails, and some e-mails. They also made the legislative branch of government exempt from disclosing any of the written conversations they have with their constituents. This is a tough blow to Utah open records laws in the state. However, they didn't stop there. On top of making these new restrictions, they added "overhead and administrative" fees that could be added to any government record request. Essentially removing any type of financial cap on how much an agency could charge to have someone obtain a public record.
So for example, if you wanted to request a regular government record like a birth, divorce, death certificate, land use or water rights history those fees could now go from nothing to an inflated cost just to get a copy.
When I was a student reporter working at The Signpost at Weber State University, I did an investigation on felons working in higher education. Under HB477 this sort of story would have no chance of being accomplished at a collegiate level, because of new charges in fees.
Here is a well thought out editorial by the managing editor of the Valley Journals and also with the Utah Foundation for Open Government. click here: